Frida the Labrador retriever is one special dog. Last September, the trained sniffer for the Mexican navy’s canine unit helped detect dozens of people in the rubble caused by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake, which killed hundreds in Mexico City and the surrounding area.
In addition to sniffing 11 children alive inside a school after Mexico City’s earthquake, the pooch also detected the body of a fallen officer in Juchitan after an earthquake there just two weeks prior.
Now, Frida has received a sculpture erected in her honor. Talk about a good girl! The bronze statue of her likeness was unveiled at a ceremony on July 19 at an ecological park in Puebla City, Mexico. Next to Frida’s statue is a bronze statue of her trainer, Israel Arauz.
Mexican journalist Alicia Salgado tweeted out these adorable photos of Frida at the ceremony, where she wore the special protective goggles, booties and vest that comprise her uniform when she’s on duty at a natural disaster:
Develan estatua en honor de #Frida, la perrita rescatista, y de su cuidador el maestre Israel Arauz
👏🐕😍 pic.twitter.com/4SA6WfiHrh— Alicia Salgado (@allizesalgado) July 19, 2018
How sweet! This is not the first time the pup has been credited with assisting rescuers. In fact, Frida has helped find 52 people — some alive, some dead — in different natural disasters throughout her six-year-long career. In addition to searching through debris in Mexico, she has responded to quakes in Ecuador and Haiti.
In the wake of the earthquake in Mexico City, Frida became somewhat of an internet sensation as amazing photos of the canine hard at work began to circulate on social media, like this one posted to Twitter:
A todos aquellos que lastiman, abandonan y explotan piénsalo dos veces, algún día te podrían salvar la vida ! #Frida ❤️ pic.twitter.com/x9oBGsgcDr
— Rodriguez (@omarbamm) September 21, 2017
As Frida ages, she will eventually become eligible for retirement and will be up for adoption to navy personnel. While the dog is well-loved and will likely have many potential adopters, according to Emmanuel Hernandez, one of Frida’s handlers, that time is still a long way off.
“If someone asks me if I would want to take Frida, I would say yes,” Hernandez told the Associated Press. “But we will have Frida for a long time yet.”
What an amazing pooch! We’re so grateful for our four-legged friends who help us out when we need them most.